Dreamwalker

[Sebek]

Carefully, his gaze swept across the landscape, amber eyes taking in the barren scenery around him. The dry earth beneath his shoes, the sparse bushes scattered about, and the mesas rising in the distance.

"This definitely isn't the suburbs," Reuben muttered to himself, a slight tremor coloring his voice, and he swallowed hard, running a hand through his dark brown hair, in an attempt to calm the budding panic that threatened to burst from his chest. "Alright, let's remain calm. There must be a logical, reasonable explanation for how I ended up here… in the middle of nowhere…" One that fell apart as his words faded in the face of the reality of his situation.

Which was his sudden case of unnatural displacement.

That was the best way he had to describe it.

One moment, Reuben had been on his way to buy some groceries. He'd been craving some snacks, maybe some of those little instant pizzas he'd seen for sale; but when he was halfway there, after turning a corner, in the blink of an eye he'd gone from walking on a sidewalk to ending up in the middle of nowhere.

For a fleeting moment, he'd thought he was somehow hallucinating, but the dry air, accompanied by the piercing heat, in stark contrast to the pleasant autumn coolness he'd been experiencing just a second earlier, quickly dispelled that notion, uprooting any doubt he might have had that what he was seeing wasn't real.

And if it was real, it only made his situation much more precarious.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and exhaled before opening them again to take another look around, searching, and failing once more, to find either something that might make sense of what was happening or any sign of civilization.

As far as he could see in every direction, for what seemed like kilometers, there was nothing but uninhabited, inhospitable land.

Not a trace of signs, a road, or any other structure that might serve as a guide.

Just harsh nature.

"Damn it, what the hell is going on?" Reuben growled under his breath as his fists clenched in an effort to contain the terror that had been steadily growing in his gut.

How had he gotten there? Nothing he knew could explain the madness he was experiencing. Appearing in a completely different place was something that only happened in fantasy stories. It wasn't supposed to happen in real life. For all he knew, the universe might have had a hiccup and ended up depositing him thousands of kilometers from his home. Because he was certain there was no place like this anywhere near where he lived.

How was he going to get back? There were no signs, not a single direction he could follow. He couldn't even use the GPS on his cell phone because whatever had caused his displacement had stripped him of everything he was carrying except for the clothes on his back.

No phone. No wallet. No money.

All he had was a T-shirt from a college event, plain pants, a pair of shoes, and a whole bunch of anxiety and stress.

Could he even make it back? His spirits sank even further. Could he really find his way back? Who knew how far he was from civilization? Hours? Days? More…? If he didn't find something, he was going to end up…

Reuben squeezed his eyes shut and forced himself to cut off that train of thought. He took another deep breath, raised his hands, and slapped the sides of his face hard. The stinging sensation on his cheeks was like a balm for his nerves, allowing him to find his center and focus his mind.

No, that was defeatist talk. Reuben could be many things; slightly antisocial, sometimes emotional, but defeatist? Never! He considered himself more of a realist, thank you very much. Just aware of the problems and challenges surrounding him; but he refused to let himself give up hope, even if he had to drag it along, screaming and kicking.

He was going to get out of the mess he'd literally walked into, and the first step toward that was to find something, anything, that might help him, whatever it was; but to do that, he couldn't stay where he was.

He had to choose a direction and start walking.

Reuben looked up at the sky, glancing at the position of the sun. It had been late afternoon when he set out, and it seemed like it remained the same no matter where he was.

"The sun sets in the west, right? That means north should be… over there… more or less… I think," Reuben muttered to himself, his face twisting into a look of doubt as he gazed in the direction he guessed north should be. Not that he could be sure. He'd barely gone camping as a kid, and those had been more like school field trips. Lots of games and fun with zero survival training at all.

Still, he frowned, pursed his lips, straightened his shoulders, and started walking. Either way, he couldn't afford to waste time on doubts. The sooner he found anything, be that a track, a road or whatever, the better.

Even though it was still hours before dusk, he wanted to do everything he could to avoid spending the night there. He'd seen documentaries about similar places and didn't want to end up as food for some wild animal.

With his luck, something was bound to decide it wanted to take a bite out of him, probably a coyote or something like that.

Come to think of it, he'd better pick up the pace a bit.

= = = = =

'There's something weird about this place'.

A few hours into his journey, he'd started to feel as if he was being watched.

However, every time he turned his head in search of whatever was causing that sensation, he saw nothing but the silent, empty wilderness.

In fact, Rueben realized that since he'd arrived, he hadn't heard a single sound beyond the faint rustling of the small bushes he passed every so often and the crunch of the ground beneath his soles.

He had no idea whether that was normal or not in that kind of environment, but the fact was that it made him uneasy, even more so than he already was, if that was even possible.

Despite this, he had made good time, crossing kilometers of barren land until he reached the foothills of the nearest mesas, where he found, much to his delight and that of his parched lips, a narrow stream.

And when he said it was narrow, he meant it. Its width couldn't have been more than that of his shoulders.

Even so, the water flowing through it was crystal-clear and sparkling; and when he knelt down and took a sip of it, it was so refreshing that it was as if the water itself infused his body with new energy, washing away the fatigue that had been building up until that moment.

He decided then that the best thing he could do was to follow its course. He was almost certain that, if he did, he would eventually come across some settlement, whether right next to the stream or at its source, if it happened to be a tributary of a larger one.

Besides, it was common sense not to stray too far from a valuable source of water when you don't know when you'll find another one.

That should have relaxed him considerably, but he was unable to do so.

The sensation hadn't left him.

On the contrary, Reuben had the impression that it was growing stronger.

He shuddered and looked up and around in yet another attempt that, by now, he considered futile, but he had to do something. Even if it was just to tell himself it must be his imagination.

And as expected, he found nothing but the empty summits of the mesas flanking him. What he did realize, however, was that the day was drawing to a close.

The blue of the sky was giving way to the oranges and purples of sunset, and the first stars were beginning to twinkle in the sky…

Reuben froze, his eyes wide and his mouth ajar.

The stars were, literally, blinking. One moment shining, the next disappearing, and then reappearing.

And not all of them, nor even in unison, but several in random, nonsensical patterns and intervals.

And it wasn't just the stars that were acting strangely.

The sky itself was odd, with its shift in colors less like the gradual process he expected and more as if an invisible brush was painting them. The hues were too vivid, too stark, and too undulating to be natural.

"What… what's going on?" he asked himself, unable to hold back, not expecting an answer when a sound reached his ears—one so faint that he could only hear it because of the absolute silence all around him.

The whispering murmur of voices.

Countless, incomprehensible voices muttering on the edge of his hearing, without pause or end.

A chill ran down his spine, and without a second thought, he started running.

There was definitely something wrong with the place, and he had no intention of staying to find out what it was.

Lack of courage? More like a survival instinct!

Suddenly, the low visibility of twilight was abruptly shattered by a pale glow, nearly causing Reuben to stumble in surprise, and he looked up again to see what it was.

If someone had told him at that moment that his eyes were nearly popping out of their sockets, Reuben would have believed them.

Somehow, twilight had given way to true night in just the span of a couple of minutes. But that wasn't what had startled him, but rather the fact that somehow the moon had appeared in the middle of the sky above him where there hadn't even been a hint of its presence before.

A white, bright moon, and much, much larger than it should have been!

Reuben wanted to scream. Out of surprise. Out of fear. Out of the absurdities that were unfolding.

The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, keeping his mouth shut and his legs pumping as hard as they could.

Throughout all this, the feeling of being watched had finally faded, only to give way to the undeniable sense of being pursued.

And although nothing reached his ears except for the continuous, unintelligible whispers, something inside him was screaming that he had to keep going. That he needed to escape the light and seek shelter.

Reuben's eyes darted frantically from side to side, scanning and assessing every rock, every shadow stretching around him in shapes that made his heart threaten to leap from his chest with the speed that only a mind fueled by the imperative to survive could muster in search of safety; until he found something.

Illuminated on the wall of the mesa, under the pale moonlight, was a crevice in the rock.

Barely taller than he was and narrow enough that he knew it would be a struggle to squeeze inside, it felt like salvation, and Reuben didn't hesitate to slide inside. It didn't matter that he had to turn sideways or that there was so little room that the rock wall scraped against his cheeks, chest, back and legs to the point where he knew his clothes would end up tearing and ruined. He kept going deeper until he couldn't go any further.

Only then did he turn his gaze, with great effort, back toward the entrance and remain as still and silent as he could.

For several moments, all he could see was the relatively distant exterior bathed in moonlight. He strained to listen, but could hear nothing but the silence of the night.

Reuben felt sweat trickling down his forehead and saliva pooling in his mouth, but he forced himself not to swallow and to breathe slowly and deliberately.

Something was troubling him, and it didn't take him long to realize that the incessant whispers had fallen silent.

Suddenly, something passed in front of the entrance, and Reuben had to clench his teeth and force himself not to tremble as his body demanded.

From his distance, he couldn't make out exactly what it was, other than that it was huge, at least taller than he was, and covered in fur.

His imagination, however, was more than enough to fill in the rest of the picture, and he didn't feel confident about his chances if he were to come face-to-face with it.

That's why he remained frozen in place, his eyes wide open and unblinking, while whatever was on the other side went about whatever it was doing.

He couldn't tell if it was sniffing or trying to pick up his scent. Had he left any footprints? Reuben hadn't bothered to check. The ground at the edge of the plateau was rocky. He was sure he hadn't left any traces; or rather, he prayed that wasn't the case.

Fortunately, after what felt like hours to him, the creature moved away and vanished from view, leaving him with a clear view of the outside.

Even so, Reuben remained where he was, motionless, barely breathing. He didn't move.

Not even when his body began to protest his posture.

Not even when the whispers returned.

Not even when his head began to throb and his eyelids grew heavy, begging for rest.

Not until the first rays of the sun pierced the night's glow and, as if a blanket had been drawn over him, the world became a little less threatening.

Only then did he crawl out of his hiding place with what strength he had left, every cramped muscle screaming in pain after who knows how many hours in the same position, held only by fear.

And when he finally crossed the entrance and felt the warm light of the sun over his head, he barely managed to take a step before collapsing onto the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust that made him cough, a cough that soon turned into a choke and then burst into ragged laughter, tears streaming from his exhausted eyes.

He had no idea what that whole night had been about, and, truth be told, he didn't feel like figuring it out. That was something he'd leave for the Reuben of the future to worry about. The important thing was that, whatever it was, he'd survived.

Tired, certainly sore, but alive.

Because he had no doubt that, whatever that creature had been, nothing good awaited him if it ever caught up with him.

It took him a while to recover from his nervous outburst and even longer to get his body off the ground.

He practically had to crawl to the stream, which was still flowing with its pristine water, and with trembling hands took a sip.

Once again, he was overcome by a refreshing sensation that, while it didn't eliminate his exhaustion, dulled its edge enough that he could stand up without his legs shaking.

And after last night's scare, it finally dawned on him that even the water had something supernatural about it that shouldn't be there. At least it seemed harmless.

So, after drinking a bit more and regaining his resolve, he resumed his journey, still following the stream.

He was going to take what he could get without complaining. Besides, he needed all the help he could get.

He needed to get out of there as soon as possible. He'd been lucky the first night; he didn't think he'd be lucky a second time.